Currently it is customary to load some of the service products needed for catering to the passengers on board an aircraft, such as for example food or drinks, into trolleys. Loading of the trolleys is effected by a catering company responsible for supplying the service products. The loaded trolleys are brought on board the aircraft and accommodated in appropriate trolley receiving areas in the galleys of the aircraft. While the aircraft is flying, some of the trolleys accommodated in the trolley receiving areas in the galleys are used for service tasks, i.e. to distribute food and drinks to the passengers in the passenger cabin. The other trolleys however remain throughout the flight in the trolley receiving areas in the galleys. Because of their being equipped with a stable, shock-proof housing, wheels, brakes etc., trolleys have a relatively large volume and a relatively high weight. The trolleys that are not used for service purposes therefore in particular lead to an increased spatial requirement as well as extra weight in the galleys of the aircraft.
The catering company responsible for supplying the service products brings service products, which are not to be loaded into trolleys, by means of a transport cart onto the aircraft, where they are stowed manually into cabinets provided in the galleys. The transport cart, after it has been unloaded, is removed from the aircraft. Manually filling the galley cabinets is relatively time-consuming. Filling the top galley cabinets in particular, i.e. cabinets that are disposed in an upper portion of the galleys, moreover entails a relatively high amount of effort.
From WO 2007/096000 A1 an aircraft galley of a modular construction is known, which comprises a basic body having a plurality of compartments. Accommodated in the compartments are boxes of various sizes, in which service products needed for catering to the passengers on board the aircraft, such as for example food or drinks, may be accommodated. Furthermore, in the compartments of the basic body various units, such as for example an oven or a microwave oven, are disposed.
The non-prior publication DE 10 2008 063 248 describes a transport cart that is suitable for equipping an aircraft galley of a modular construction, which is known from WO 2007/096000 A1, with boxes containing for example service products that are needed for catering to the passengers on board the aircraft. The transport cart comprises a base element for example of a plate-shaped configuration, to which a plurality of wheels as well as frame elements disposed at a distance from one another are fastened. The transport cart further comprises a first guide device that is devised to come into engagement with a complementary second guide device that is formed on a box, which may be received in the aircraft galley to be equipped and is provided for transport in the transport cart. The first guide is devised, when it is situated in engagement with the complementary second guide device formed on the box, to secure the box against displacement on the transport cart in a direction at right angles to a longitudinal axis of the transport cart. Finally, the transport cart is provided with a locking mechanism that is devised to secure the box against displacement on the transport cart in a direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of the transport cart. The transport cart described in DE 10 2008 063 248 has the drawback that it is relatively bulky and therefore, when not in use, takes up a great deal of storage space.